Listener at Work

That's me sketchnoting at CAST 2022, taken by Pradeep Soundararajan. He tweeted the image and got a reply that made me smile:

My grin was wide for a few reasons: First, there is no way I'd flatter myself with that title. Second, this is not really work; being at CAST is an absolute pleasure. Third, I actually redrew those notes shortly afterwards because I'd only filled half the page when the talk ended.

I'll forgive myself the last point. I'd thought it was another 90-minute session when in fact it was only 45. Doh! But that highlights an interesting thing about sketchnoting: how to determine what to put on the page, and where, and when.

Several people at the conference asked me about that and I said the same kinds of things I wrote in Beginning Sketchnoting a few years ago. My basic approach hasn't changed very much at all. I have a small repertoire of images and I draw them shabbily with the biros I have to hand.

What has changed since 2018 is my confidence that waiting for something I think is worth sketching works, in general, better for me than writing extensive notes by hand. That's because I have to listen carefully to get it right, even if I still get it wrong sometimes.

My written notes on talks and workshops in these CAST 2022 posts are from the sketchnotes. There's something about the concentrated attention and tying information to images that helps with recall, for me at least.

And that's the other thing. Although I'm happy to share them, and I know others appreciate them, the notes are mine, by me, and for me.

So, artist at work? Definitely not. Listener at work? That's more like it!

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